Dive operations in Cozumel

[scox]

We will be staying at the Wyndham Reef Club in Cozumel and were recommended to dive with Dive Paradise. Has anyone used them or have a recommendation for any other dive operations?

 

[dry heat diver]

We have never been on a dive boat operated by Scuba Paradise but we spoke at length with them at the Scuba Expo in Long Beach last month and they seem to be very knowledgeable and have quite a variety of boats at their disposal.

When we visited Cozumel a little over 18 months ago we stayed at Scuba Club Cozumel and did our diving off of a boat called Dive Cat. The arrangements were made through our LDS so I don't know who actually owned that boat. However, the boat and the crew were both excellent and very helpful. I was also very pleased to see the professional way they handled a situation when a woman, who was not part of our dive shop group, came down with a mild case of the bends. They knew their stuff.

Hope this helps a little bit. The diving in Coz is tops. Don't miss the night dives.

 

[Diver Lori]

I have never dived with them so I do not know first hand about their procedures, etc, but I did see their boats this past weekend. They were cattleboats loaded elbow to elbow. If you don't mind that, then consider them.

Personally, I try to avoid cattleboats.

 

[Bazooka Joe]

I think Sand Dollar is right there on your resort, I have dove with them and will be diving next week. I liked them, good boats. Nice Crew.


Joe

 

[1KWIK_69]

There are a lot of great dive ops on the island that come highly recomended. Dive Paradise is a large outfit. I've always been more partial to the smaller ops with more personal service. You might just consider Sand Dollar since they're located at Wyndham. It would be worth it for the convenience if anything. Not to mention, you'll have to pay a daily pier fee if you go with any other shop. Sand Dollar also has equipment lockers so you won't have to lug your gear what seems like 10 miles each way from the rooms to the pier.

If you're wanting to go with someone besides Sand Dollar, you might check out Blue XT Sea, Deep Blue, Papa Hogs, Scuba Mau, Dive with Martin, and the list goes on and on. All have had great reviews on this forum.

Sorry to all the ops I missed.

 

[HoustonDiver8]

Ditto to the above post.
We stayed at the Wyndham last summer, & dove w/ Sand Dollar.
Hotel is nice, food OK.
It was a long hike from the hotel room to the dive shop. But once there, you can store your gear at the shop. Great service. We rinse, & they had hangers to dry & store them for you. Well worth the tip.
We are a family of 4 divers, so half the dives, we had our very own small fast boat w/ our own DM. Other times, there were 2 more divers w/ us.
Hotel is close to the dive sites, so came back to the pier in between dives.
Very good dive op.

 

[billindenver]

I have looked in on Dive Paradise a couple of times and went other routes because of the reasons mentioned above. Of the four dive operations we have tried, we would rank them this way:

1. Aldora Divers - Fantastic boats, great DM's, wonderfully full steel 120 tanks....damn near perfect, but it is my preference to dive my computer and they surface as a group. Even so, I will state openly that I still dream about that 80 minute/100 foot multilevel dive when I got in the boat with a lot of air still in the tank. Aldora is very close to perfect, and if you are in a group of good breathers...Aldora reaches perfection.

2. Dive with Martin - Great prices, boats as good as most others, friendly DM's...did I mention their prices?

3rd and 4th is a Tie between Dressel Divers & Blue XTS - Dressel has free nitrox, nice pricing on large packages, guaranteed 4 trips a day if you want them, night dives several times a week and with a dive package, the AOW training is free....but there were 18 people on my boat and the afternoon dives were stopped at 45 minutes bottom time. I'm told that they only do that on the beginner group boats...dunno if it's true or not though. The DM's only take 6 divers each and the groups are dispersed well, DM's were very friendly and knowledgeable and to be honest, the 18 people on that huge boat really wasn't a big deal to me....but that 45 minute thumb thrust towards the surface thing...that did bother me a bit. Dressel also works a schedule of trips...if you want to dive the C-53 wreck, there is a trip to it twice a week...I've yet to see it because I can't convince boat loads at the other dive ops to vote for that dive. So, if you want to see a certain reef etc, schedule that day and you are going.

Blue XT Sea does let you dive your computer, but there were several things that rubbed us the wrong way with them. They certainly have their followers though....I'm just not one of them, neither is my perma dive buddy. If we were sent to Coz and told to pick one or the other, we would pick Dressel but some of that is a personality conflict so in fairness, they are tied. I would prefer Martin to either of them, and neither holds the smallest of candles to Aldora. Next trip will likely be a Living Underwater and Aldora split week.

 

[newgentry]

My daughter and I have been to Coz 3 times, going back again in October. Our first trip there, we took a private boat with Diving with Allison, which was a great way to introduce ourselves to open water diving - we were brand new divers and putting ourselves on a big boat made me nervous. The remainder of that trip was with Dive Paradise, and every trip since. Why? Candidly, because our dive instructor here in the States recommended them, and we've never felt the need to change. If you take the fast boats, you have 6 divers max and most of the DM's will let you stay down until you're at your own limit, no fixed time. And the cost increase from the big boats is negligible. All in all we've enjoyed all of our dives with them. That being said, another reason is because we always stay at Hotel Cozumel, and their shop is right across the street, so its just easier to dive with them as well. But I have no hesitation recommending them to you. Have fun.

 

[ggunn]

We will be staying at the Wyndham Reef Club in Cozumel and were recommended to dive with Dive Paradise. Has anyone used them or have a recommendation for any other dive operations?

The question "what's the best dive op on Cozumel?" typically will open the floodgates for cheerleading; everyone has his/her favorite dive op but few of us have used very many of them, and most responses are from folks trying to steer business toward an op with whom they have made a personal connection.

What is more important is to decide what sort of services you are looking for. Do you want to dive from a small fast boat, or do you want to hang with a lot of other divers to and from the site? Do you want valet service (where the op rinses and keeps your gear for you, provides food and drink aboard, takes you to beach clubs for your SIT, etc.) and are you willing to pay extra for that, or would you be happy with a more economical "no frills" op that gets you out to the site and back safely and efficiently, provides water aboard the boat, rigs your gear for you, and that's about it? Do you need a bit of handholding by the DM, or do you want to be pretty much left alone? No matter what level of service you are looking for, there will be an op (probably several) who can give you what you are looking for.

The good news is that while there is no best op on Cozumel, it's very hard to go wrong. The bar is set pretty high and dive ops who don't measure up don't last long.

 

[driftin' by]

When we visited Cozumel a little over 18 months ago we stayed at Scuba Club Cozumel and did our diving off of a boat called Dive Cat. The arrangements were made through our LDS so I don't know who actually owned that boat. However, the boat and the crew were both excellent and very helpful. I was also very pleased to see the professional way they handled a situation when a woman, who was not part of our dive shop group, came down with a mild case of the bends. They knew their stuff.

FWIW, If you stayed at SCC you dived with SCC and IIRC, you can dive with SCC if you stay at SCC.

The good news is that while there is no best op on Cozumel, it's very hard to go wrong. The bar is set pretty high and dive ops who don't measure up don't last long.

Couldn't have said it better myself.